


Fairytales

by YouKeepMeRight



Series: Merthur a kiss a day challenge [15]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Fluff, M/M, blame it on Colin Morgan's voice, series 5 what series 5?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27617341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouKeepMeRight/pseuds/YouKeepMeRight
Summary: Everybody watched that video of Colin Morgan reading “The devil with the three golden hairs”, right? Well, I might have made Merlin the storyteller here.Based on this comment:"That was a children’s story!" Merlin would say."There's nothing innocent in the way you read, and you know it," Arthur would growl.Prompt 17: Tucking their hands beneath the other person’s shirt, just to watch them break the kiss and gasp in surprise at the sensation of cold/warm hands on their skin
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merthur a kiss a day challenge [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831621
Comments: 13
Kudos: 102





	Fairytales

Everything was quiet and peaceful in Camelot. No one imagined days like these would ever come: magic was finally no longer outlawed. There were sorcerers in the streets, with coloured flashes of light all around them and flashing golden eyes. People were no longer scared of them. In fact, they were delighted by their presence.

But nobody was as delighted as Merlin.

He was now the official court sorcerer, King Arthur's right hand. Merlin’s duties were to sit with the highest members of the council and to train young men and women in magic. In his spare time, he liked to entertain the children of the castle with fairytales.

Merlin's mother used to do the same with children back in Ealdor, and Merlin had always been fascinated by the way she spoke. Merlin learned to modulate his voice like Hunith used to, so that every character seemed to come alive.

"Bring me what I want, and you shall keep my daughter," Merlin growled in the throne room. At least twenty children sat in front of him, their big eyes solely focused on Merlin. There was a blizzard outside, but it didn’t seem to bother them. Merlin was playing an angry king from one of his favourite stories, 'The Dragon With the Three Golden Scales.'

Even the adults in the room were taken with the way the court sorcerer was telling the story. Merlin sat on the throne, moving his hands restlessly. The clothes he was wearing only added charm to his persona. Merlin had recently begun to wear velvet on winter days, and today he’d chosen a deep blue, high-collared overcoat, matched with trousers of the same colour. The king himself had bought that specific velvet from the eastern regions.

When King Arthur entered the room, Merlin was reading the chapter where the young protagonist of the story arrived in the Dragon’s cave and found a dragonlord. Since the man was a sorcerer, he agreed to help the young lad get three golden scales from the dragon’s back. However, to obtain them, the sorcerer had to transform the boy into an ant, or the dragon was going to eat him whole.

“Hide inside my pocket,” Merlin-as-dragonlord whispered to his index finger, like a very little ant was on it. Merlin’s hands had always fascinated Arthur, but now that he knew the truth about the power Merlin held in those long and elegant fingers, Arthur was even more mesmerized by them.

When Merlin reached the bit where the dragon spoke, Arthur could barely contain a gasp. The king had listened to the sorcerer’s dragon voice only once in the past, when Merlin commanded the white dragon Aithusa to live free and not hurt anybody else. Those low rumbles and deep breaths were meant to be scary, but Arthur was feeling another kind of emotion. His skin tingled with goosebumps and an unexpected shiver ran down his spine. For a moment, Arthur had to steady himself against the wall.

Merlin looked at him briefly, but after a fraction of second -during which Arthur imagined he saw a playful little smirk on Merlin’s face- Merlin continued to read the story as if nothing had happened.

The fairytale had a happy ending: the young lad came home safe and sound and the evil king was punished for his greediness. At the end of it, every person in the throne room was clapping. A couple of children chanted, “Again, read it again.”

“Come on, young lords and ladies, time to go to sleep.” Merlin gently pushed recalcitrant children towards their parents. “I want to know about your dreams of magical adventures tomorrow, okay? Bye!” He waved off politely everyone as they left. 

Then Merlin and Arthur were finally alone.

“So,” Arthur began, clearing his throat. “That was, um, good.” Arthur walked towards Merlin, his red cloak fluttering around his body.

“Just _good_?” Merlin tilted his head. He went back to the throne, where he sat gracefully.

“Oh come on, _Mer_ lin, I know you did that on purpose!” Arthur complained, standing right in front of the sorcerer now.

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Merlin said vaguely, looking everywhere but in Arthur’s direction.

“Oh, you know perfectly what I’m talking about.” Arthur was now bent towards Merlin, caging him. Arthur's hands were on the armrests of the throne. Their faces were inches apart. When Merlin finally looked in Arthur’s eyes, there was a spark of humour in them.

“I was just reading a fairytale to the children,” Merlin stated.

“There’s nothing innocent in the way you read, and you know it,” Arthur buried his nose into the curve of Merlin’s neck.

During the last few months, there had been some mixed signals from Arthur. Occasionally, the king had that look in his eyes, and Merlin couldn’t help but speculate about Arthur's affection towards him. What was happening now was the final proof that Merlin was right.

“Arthur, please,” Merlin tugged at his cape.

Finally, Arthur decided to end this torture both of them had carried on for too long already.

The kiss they shared was simple yet outstanding. Their lips brushed together like it was the easiest thing ever. Like they were made for this. Time seemed to stop around them.

Then suddenly, Merlin gasped as Arthur’s cold hands snuck under Merlin’s jacket.

“What it is, mighty Court Sorcerer?” Arthur mocked tenderly.

“Your hands are dead cold!” Merlin squeaked.

“Well, you look so hot in that suit, somebody has to compensate.” Arthur kneeled between Merlin’s spread legs and looked up to him, smiling.

Merlin laughed fondly, bending towards his king. “Come here, you prat,” and they were kissing again.

The sounds of their rasped breaths and the winter breeze echoed in the throne room for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks a lot to [gelishan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gelishan) for her kind help!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Fairytales](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28222413) by [divine529](https://archiveofourown.org/users/divine529/pseuds/divine529)




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